


it's gotta be you

by pisceslilith



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Secret Crush, also its the second pov!!, mitsuki has a crush and so our children begin their secret investigation, shikadai is the voice of reason along with sarada, so Everything Is Fine Now, theres also a 2-3 years skip time, this fic exists because i needed healing after ep79
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:09:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16517957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pisceslilith/pseuds/pisceslilith
Summary: Mitsuki's been acting kinda odd lately. It resulted in a crush investigation.





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting behind the horizon, the sunlight gently warming up your face. It contrasted perfectly with the pleasant wind that swung your blond hair. The view from the top of the train sometimes seemed so far away yet so easy to grasp in your hand. It was a daily scenery that you came across, coming back from a meetup with your friends with a California Teriyaki Burger in your hand. Which by the way was one of the best things about this day.

You and your friends were having a nice time playing Shinobi Bout until you were forced to go to the cinema to see the movie that Chocho picked (well, it was her birthday so she got to decide) and man, was the movie awful. Even her free homemade strawberries wrapped in bean paste didn’t ease your sufferings. You’re pretty sure you slept through half of it.

“Boruto”, someone pulled you out of your thoughts, "your tomato is sliding off"

You blinked and caught it just before it landed on your pants. They’re already torn enough from the trainings and your mom kind of had enough of sewing it up for you as you refuse to buy a new pair.

“Thankie”, you said, sucking the slice of your hand. “Good reflex there.”

“I was just watching you.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Even though you could like, watch the mesmerizing sunset instead.”

“I am”, Mitsuki claimed. He’s still looking at you.

You rolled your eyes harder, but smiled gently, rolling up the paper from your burger as you put it in your pocket. No trashing the environment. You slipped off the sitting position to the more of a lying one.

It’s been a while since Mitsuki’s rescue - well, two years actually - but you never really stopped missing his weird responses ever since. You still felt a lot lighter around him like if someone removed a piano laying on your chest. It was more of a rollercoaster, considering that your heart also often sunk at the sight of him, so you never really knew what’s up with your guts anymore but it didn’t really bother you that much. You knew your friendship was something special. After all those struggles it was better than what you had before. Mitsuki didn’t follow you around like a lost puppy and copy everything you do once he learned that he had a choice and his own decisions to make, but even if not lost anymore, he still definitely remained a puppy.

“Sooo… when I’m waking up” you tried, philosophically, “is it a sunrise?”

“Yeah”, he brightened up. “My sunrise.”

You shook your head. Everyone got used to Mitsuki saying those kind of things and no one treated it like something strange. That including you.

You made a roof out of your hand so you could look up at Mitsuki without risking your eyes burning out. His hair and loose sleeves were waving back and forth as the wind blew. It was a peaceful afternoon and you both had some minutes left before you reached the house.  
~

It quickly got dark outside and now some stars were just starting to show up. The night was quite chill so it was rather good that you reached home quickly. You went inside and kicked your shoes off. Mitsuki closed the door behind him.

“We’re home!”

“Welcome home!”

Your mom wasn’t really surprised to see Mitsuki with you. You don’t even know when exactly ‘we’ started to equal you and him. Probably since the first time you brought him for a sleepover and then it just became an almost daily basis.

It might have been right after he came back to the village. Once you saw his room you couldn't get the image of its emptiness out of your mind and Mitsuki living all alone like that was just... not right. You offered him to stay at your place some day after to which he agreed and since then you became even more inseparable. It was more fun to have your friend over in your room, chatting and playing games together. It’s like he lived with you at this point.

More or less. He eventually sleeps at his own place from time to time too. You and Sarada helped him furnish the room a little bit more and maybe bring some colors into it so it didn’t resemble some creepy sage’s cave. Still felt a little bit odd, but more tolerable.

You went to the living room and saw your mom washing the dishes. No sign of your dad of course, who was currently busy being Hokage. Himawari was helping with folding clothes for your mom on the couch. She smiled brightly with a cheerful ‘hello!’ to you both, holding a light purple sweater.

“You’re later than I thought”, your mom spoke “Are you hungry?”

“Nah, we just ate. Need help with anything?”

“It’s okay”, she smiled gently. “We just finished.”

“Got it”, you nodded and then looked at your friend tilting his head, “Come on.”

You took Mitsuki by his arm to drag him up the stairs to your room. You went to look through your wardrobe straight ahead, to find a usable shirt for your friend to wear. All of them were fine to use as PJs, but given the choice to decide you took a little bit longer.

“So”, Mitsuki said when you dived deep into one of your drawers. “You didn’t enjoy the movie.”

You glanced at him.

“Yeah. It was boring and predictable”, you ranted. “I mean what can you expect from a suspense romance horror, but still. There was literally no action. Nothing happened. Where was the horror I was promised?“

“‘Literally on the screen’, to quote Shikadai” Mitsuki shrugged and you were almost saying that that’s so right when he added, “But I liked it”

You blinked at him, confused as if you suddenly didn’t know what he might be talking about. He just started at you as he sat down by the edge of the bed.

“...What?”

“The movie”, he qualified and you almost gasped in betrayal. “I liked it. I’ve never seen anything like that so I found it rather interesting.”

You studied his face for a while. Since Mitsuki stopped following you and your opinions around like a small yellow goofball chip chip he more than often liked things you didn’t particularly enjoy. Which was natural and well, valid.

But what he said seemed rather… off. Not that him being random was a new thing but you probably developed a sixth sense when it comes to Mitsuki acting odd. You frowned.

“How come?”

“Well, I only ever go to see movies when you go. So it’s usually some science-fiction mecha ninja action”, he explained.

“Duh, because that’s the best- hey, what’s with that look?”, you pointed out because Mitsuki was now glaring at you but he was quick to break into a chuckle.

Since Mitsuki learned how to show his own emotions in a better way (both verbally and visibly-wise), he liked to catch you off guard with different intense expressions from time to time. You huffed and laid down on your bed.

“Maybe it might be okay for the first time” you agreed eventually. “But in general, romantic movies just repeat a certain scheme over and over again.”

“And heroic mecha ninjas don’t?”

“You-, hey. That’s. That’s-”, you stuttered trying to find an argument. Mitsuki politely raised his eyebrow at you. “You’re on thin ice, you know?” you pouted.

He chuckled and you gave him a plain white shirt before he could expose your favorite movies even more. You were almost literally the same size, but everything seemed to hang loose on Mitsuki a little bit more than it did on you. What can you say. That’s probably the muscles you’re getting from all that training.

Mitsuki went to the bathroom to change into his PJs and you did too. When you were done you settled on the bed and glanced towards the window right above it. 

You had a nice, pleasant day with your friends today. Things were fine and remembering how not-fine they could be made a good feeling form somewhere in your stomach. They say that sometimes the only way to appreciate what you have is to see what life is like without it. Your thoughts wandered off to Mitsuki. You learned your lesson once and you’d rather not have fate teach it to you again. The idea of it scared you more than anyone could ever tell.

While waiting for your friend to get back, you decided to try out some new video games. That you still did check out once he got back by the way, just with him leaning on your shoulder so he could watch your quality gameplay struggle. That lasted until you reached some horrible level that you weren’t able to beat so blaming it on being too tired, you put the game down. You rolled onto the bed, hands behind your neck.

“You’re switching off the lights”, you informed your friend, feeling yourself getting a little sleepy once you hit the mattress.

And you... kind of expected Mitsuki to do as you said. The sentence above was your way of saying ‘I think we should sleep but I don’t wanna get up and since I’m 5 years old and you can extend your arm to the moon and back you can have the pleasure of doing so’’, but Mitsuki was not having it today for some reason. He was still sitting on the edge of the bed. He didn't even flinch.

“Or… I guess you’re not?” you hesitated. Well, your room wasn’t extremely big so you could move your ass and turn it off yourself, but-

“Boruto”

You looked up. There was no different sound to it than usual. It was always the same tone and octave and the same voice that he used to call you by your name.

“Currently speaking”, you answered. “What seems to be the issue, sir?”

“Can I”, a small pause. “tell you the things I like about you?”

Oh my god. Your eyes met his. To say that you were shook was a light term. You slowly went back to the sitting position, wondering what to make of it.

“...Is... that... a thing from the movie?”, you asked carefully.

“I thought you said you were sleeping”, Mitsuki exposed you again.

“Okay. I wish I was sleeping”, you brushed it off and managed to stop your eyes rolling halfway through doing it. “But hey, you can tell me whatever you want. It’s what you always do anyway?”, you raised your eyebrow at him.

“Yeah”, he confirmed. “It’s what I always do.”

Okay, this was getting way too suspicious. You gave him the someones-acting-weird-here look but Mitsuki just stared back at you. Staring contest with him was a lost cause due to his master skills at keeping the poker face, but it didn’t stop you from trying.

“I like your eyes”, he said.

So maybe you weren’t having a staring contest after all. He’s just been admiring your eyes which is completely normal for friends to do. Right.

“I like how they get filled up with the determination with a special spark and how it’s so clear to see the real you through them and read your emotions. And they’re bluer than the sky. Which only affirms me that you’re my sun”

A bit has changed since these two years you didn’t give him the uh-look anymore. You guess you got used to him saying those kind of things. That was just how he chose his words.

It was even kind of amusing in a lovely and innocent way, how Mitsuki could do math better than any adult could but sometimes didn’t know what a pancake mix is. Just like he didn’t know that you don’t necessarily quote cliche screen adaptations. Or copy-paste romantic attempts on your best friend.

“It’s funny, because your eyes are yellow”, you pointed out, deciding to go along with the topic. “You know, like the sun”.

“It’s quite obvious”, he looked at you. “You reflect in them”

Like you mentioned, you developed some sort of a distance when it comes to Mitsuki telling you things of this sort. But this time the scale skyrocket to another dimension. You almost choked on your own existence. You groaned, half laughing and nudged his knee with your foot.

“That is so sappy” you smirked. “I refuse to believe it was your first romance drama movie”

“I just say what I think”, he smiled gently. “I like your cat whiskers marks too”

“Yeah. It’s strange that me and Himawari got two and dad has three”, you said, scratching your cheek as you spoke. “On the other hand I think that's better than dealing with just one mark on each cheek.”

“I’d still like it”, he assured you. You laughed.

“Glad you would.”

Your friend then shifted on the bed. “So. What do you like about me?”

You crooked a nervous smile. Boy, was this conversation a ride. This question was unexpected and caught you off guard more than this whole talk already did, but you guess that is something you should be expecting from Mitsuki. The unexpected.

You pondered a little but were quick to name first things that came to your mind. Wouldn’t want to leave him hanging since you’re already this deep in this evening chat.

“Um… Well, you’re honest. Honest people make the greatest ninjas”, you said and Mitsuki nodded like if he was doing mental notes to himself. “You’re always fun to be around. In your own way. You’re smart and strong. We’ve got each others backs. You’re patient and mom says that it's good for me.”

You glanced at Mitsuki who’s been literally digging his eyes into your soul right now, interested in what else you might say. But you find yourself too distracted by his look to continue.

“I just… I dunno”, you shrugged with one arm. “I like that you’re you.”

And that probably summed it up perfectly.

“I appreciate it”, Mitsuki said after a while. “In the movie they focused only on the physical traits. So did I.”

“Yeah, don’t sweat it. I already figured by now that you like me”, you said, amused and he gives you the softest look possible. “I’m not exactly the jealous type unless you’re wearing some cool merch.”

“As far as I know you don’t have to feel jealousy to be able to tell what you find alluring about the other person. It’s what I’ve heard. And experienced too.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I think I did”

His voice was cold now and there was this very strong and very disturbing pause.  
“That’s... because I am me. I’m not fake.”

He stated to the air in the room, like if he just tried to convince himself.

Okay. So that’s what it was about.

Long story short; with Mitsuki’s own free will came self-awareness which lead to complicated questions. Whether he’s fake and if what he feels is true. He knew that for a fact everyday but somewhere deep inside it still bugged him. You could hear your heart break everytime he mentioned this topic.

“Of course you’re not”, you reassured him. “You know you’re not. You feel like everyone else.”

Mitsuki stared at the ceiling. You frowned, debating whether to shake him off from this state or not. You playfully poked him in the ribs to get him to look at you or maybe even giggle. It worked. Well, the first part of it. Mitsuki was such a ticklish-less type, getting any laugh reaction out of him with just a touch was impossible.

But you were another side of the story. So instead of laughing, Mitsuki took your gesture as an invitation or an incentive boost to take up a tickle fight. He leaned in your direction and you automatically sticked to the wall with your back.

“No, hey, I was just testing stuff”, you said hurriedly but Mitsuki already reached forward. ”You can’t do that. NO-”

You grabbed him by his wrists but it didn't really do much. Not to mention that Mitsuki could prolong his arms anyway which made it even harder to avoid. You started to wrestle on the bed, Mitsuki basically just pinning you down. If he wanted to tickle you he already would, but he didn’t have to. He didn’t even touch you and yet you were laughing like crazy. You almost fell off the bed during that. He gave up, but you still remained curled up just in case. He sat up and eventually his smile washed off and again, he had this dissociating look on his face. Your expression turned from widely cheerful to worried. Mitsuki rolled back to his side of the bed. You uncurled and kept watching as he just… stared again.

“I mostly ever feel something more when I’m with you”, Mitsuki spoke slowly. You climbed closer, reaching the pillows. His small sigh was followed by your concerned look.

“It’s not a bad thing”, you reminded him. “You know that, right?”

“I know. But you don’t seem to face this kind of issue”

True. You were more of a sponge type, absorbing the feelings of people around you. Feeling good mostly in every company, while helping out your friends, making new friends. Knowing how they are holding up by just looking them in the eyes. It’s probably the fault of the mixture of traits taken from your too eager old man and too kind-hearted mother.

“You don’t have to feel the way you do about me with everyone else” you explained.

Mitsuki looked at you, but didn’t say anything. The silence you received was a comfortable one, but got really loud at some point so you took it as a opportunity to continue.

“It feels different when I’m with you too”, you found yourself saying. Your voice was quiet all of sudden. It’s not like walls could talk, but there was something about what you just said that was meant to be whispered. “The good kind of different, I mean. So don’t bully yourself because of it.”

That’s when you finally managed to get a tiny smile out of him.

“Thank you, Boruto”

“You’re welcome. Will you do the honour of turning off the lights now?”

Mitsuki extended his arm to reach the lightswitch on the other side of the room. Like you said, his skill was too extremely useful sometimes.

You grabbed your blanket and turned your back to the boy. There was no space on the bed, but Mitsuki preferred to sleep here with you rather than any of you on the floor. He said it’s warmer and that’s apparently worth accidentally slapping him in the face while sleeping or pushing and kicking him off the edge of the bed and stealing his sheets. You definitely weren't a person anyone who lacks masochistic tendencies would want to share the bed with.

“G’night”, you muttered, yawning into the pillow and closing your eyes. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite”

“I won’t. Wouldn’t let them bite you either”, Mitsuki answered the way he always did and it never failed to make you smile. “Goodnight”.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok this time the chapter actually starts to match the summary

It’s been a week. Exactly a whole one. You just came back from a really long mission that was also super tiring and had a lot of unnecessary side quests. It was the morning after and you were currently in school, surrounded by your classmates who were a) ungodly awaken at this ungodly hour after getting no sleep or b) just asleep.

You were sitting next to Sarada and right behind Mitsuki who took the front seat for some reason but you didn’t pay much attention to this detail. You had to wait for the results of your mission to be delivered and since it was really cold outside, your whole class stayed inside. You were fine with it; you took your time to pile your Info Ninja Cards with the rare Sasuke Uchiha one that you still treasured to no end. Shikadai was snoozing, Chocho was talking the shit out of poor Namida, Inojin was drawing, Sarada was reading and Mitsuki… was being Mitsuki. Just another day of chunins education. Or this time more like waiting for the ultimate summary of your progress and pretending to do ninja stuff meanwhile.

“You came to the right person, gurl!”, you heard Chocho’s voice going a little too loud for anyone’s liking, but ignored it nonetheless. “Lucky for you, I’m a certificated love expert”

Inojin scoffed and she glared at him.

“That’s not true”, he said.

Chocho waved her hand and flipped her hair back. “Blocked”

Inojin glared back, “What a shame”

“Stop it, you both” groaned Shikadai. “You’re annoying. I wanna sleep”

Inojin went back to doodling and Chocho cleared her throat.

“So, as I was saying, there’s nothing to fear if it comes to love! If you take it easy and follow my tips you’re guaranteed to steal his heart!”

Inojin shook his head as if he lost all his hope in humanity, even though he didn’t even glance away from his notebook. Shikadai hid his face in his hands and Namida just slowly nodded with an expression of a convinced client as if Chocho just succeeded in making her buy a new multifunctional carpet on sale. What was the whole rambling about anyway?

“Number one! Let him know you exist”, she said so you could figure it out on the spot. You sighed mentally. “I know it might be hard, but if you want your crush to notice you, there’s no other way! Introduce yourself or if you already know each other, initiate a small chit chat from time to time. It will help you create a bond with him”

Regardless, everything was in place and every and each one of your friends were doing what they usually are, enjoying the break between classes except for… Mitsuki, who kept staring at something in the distance. It made you wonder if something’s wrong. You tried to look in the direction he was looking but it was either Chocho or some invisible being. Or maybe he was just dissociating again?

“What’s up?”, you ask him, a little disturbed. Mitsuki turns your way and smiles at you.

“Nothing really. What about you?”

“Bored”, you give him a shrug. Okay, that’s normal. Maybe you’re just being paranoid. As you came to this conclusion, your friend just nods and then gets back to staring at Chocho who starts rambling about so called “number two!”. 

Is your friend really... listening to her speech in full-focus right now? You tried to gain his attention again, this time by intensively looking at him but it brought no result which only made it weirder. It’s Mitsuki we’re talking about. He could feel someone’s gaze on him even if the person was standing on the other side of the planet and yet he didn’t look back at you.

You glanced at Sarada, hoping she would notice your confusion, but even if she did, she didn’t quite care. She was browsing through her Hokage magazine which you hated with full passion. Sarada loved reading some trivia about your old man or sharing with you some short articles about the ‘hokage’s son’ for laughs which made you cringe like nothing in this world.

“...Number three! Read and give. Have your eyes wide open when he’s around so you know the signs he might be trying to give you! You need to also give him a few signs yourself... From innocent glances to some careful touches or hugs, maybe some random confessions? Let your crush know that you’re close and that you wanna get closer.”

Mitsuki leaned on Sarada’s part of the desk. You frowned and watched it from behind.

“‘Crush’ is a person you’re in love with, right?” he asked. 

The hell? Your eyes literally fell out and went out on a walk.

“Yeah, more or less”, Sarada answered like the question is no big deal, casually turning the page of her magazine and didn’t even bother looking up.

Mitsuki noted the answer and went back to listening to Chocho. Why would anyone be asking Sarada about it? Hello? Why would he even ask that in the first place? If the stupid movie you saw a week ago will result in getting your friend into the girls crowd you’re gonna sue the director single-handedly.

“...Number five! Make him jealous!”, Chocho declared proudly. “I know it sounds a little harsh, but man really tend to be dense. Sometimes the only way to make them realize that they care more than they care to admit is throw them into a little bit of competition”

Okay. Something here was not right and getting highly ridiculous. You stopped trying to find a point in all this ramble and went back to tossing your collection. During the mission you managed to meet a few people who you exchanged cards with so now it seemed like a good time to check them all again. You turned away slowly to the Denki sitting behind you.

“Um, Denki, do you happen to know if I had two cards with Hashirama or-”, you started but as you turned his way, you saw that Denki’s asleep. Or more like unconscious. His face was smashed into the desk and you weren’t sure if he’s even breathing. 

“I think his body gave up after two days of not sleeping and constant running” you heard Iwabe saying. He was sitting next to Denki, resting his chin on his hands that he put on the desk, as he tried to stubbornly preach open his own eyelids, pretending not to be sleeping. Or sleeping with his eyes open.

Well, you couldn’t blame Denki. He wasn’t exactly the sports type and two and a half days without sleep were tough enough. Not to mention the effort you had to make during this week’s mission. It really didn’t seem like a good combination for someone with his condition.

“Number six! Gifts!” Chocho never gave up on her inspirational talk. “The give and receive part is the base for every relationship and might come in material form too. It can be something handmade that reminds you of him so he knows you’re thinking of him. Or better! Something that can remind you of both of you and the connection between you. It can be his favorite seaweed flavor potato chips or a breakfast you prepared yourself or some fancy necklace, just really whatever”

Man, she could go on for hours.

“Boruto!”, Chocho spotted you on instant, probably because you were one of the rarest people out there who haven’t been snoring yet. You raised your eyebrow. “Give us an example”, she encouraged, “What kind of gift would you like to receive?”

“A Sasuke Uchiha ultimate shippuden collection plushie”, you answered without a second thought and Chocho huffed.

“Please don’t do this to me” you could hear Sarada’s emotionless voice, her eyes still on the magazine. “Although I think my mom has one”

“She does?!”

“Okay, can you name a gift that is not Sarada’s-dad related?”

“Give him a break” Iwabe mumbled in your defence. “Who can even think properly at this hour?”

“I can! I’m exhausted but I can’t leave my girl Namida when she’s in need of my love advices!”

“You’re exhausted?”, Inojin snarled. “We literally found you sleeping in the bushes on a bag of gummy bears during our mission-”

“The ground was hard! Besides, you’re blocked and I can’t hear you over my beauty. Oh, right! Number nine!” she clapped her hands together which ended up being a bit painful to the ears. “You can change your wardrobe or your hairstyle a little, try to impress him with a side of you he hasn't seen yet. But remember that he always has to like you for you!”

Shikadai whined. Relatable.

“Number te-”

“Okay everyone! I’ve got your results. Sorry for the wait.”

Just as Chocho was about to mention another controversial point on her list, the teacher walked into the room or basically crawled through the door, looking a bit shaken as if he just won the results mentioned above by thumb-wrestling a giant bear.

“Oh thank god”, you heard five people sigh in relief.

He shoved the papers he was holding into Shikadai’s hands so he could give them out to the rest of you. The boy double whined and got up lazily, handing over the papers to every team. Under normal circumstances people would throw themselves for the results but now everyone was too tired to even move. Sarada was the one to receive the sheet. You didn’t really care about how well or unwell it went, but you took a peek nonetheless.

“We’re good”, she said, smiling both at you and Mitsuki. “But we need to work on the coordination parts more.”

That one applied to you since your special attack strategy with Sarada never really turned out as good as you wished it to be. You were way too fast to step ahead. As if that mattered. It’s ninja fighting, not dancing.

“I know, I know”, you said and yawned loudly.

The girl rolled her eyes and looked back at the teacher who started to introduce you to dates to other missions and training schedules. You hoped for more of the second option. Sleeping on the ground in the forest was cool and fun until your back started to hurt - and Konohamaru was so much nicer than the dudes that were the leaders of your weekly missions.

After this announcement you were free to leave. Metal took Denki on his back as a noble man he was, declaring to take the poor dude home. You got up, your legs feeling numb and shaky. Mitsuki didn’t seem to be bothered by anything. He didn’t complain and neither did he show any sign of being tired.

You walked out of the school and put your hands in your pockets, feeling a small breeze of wind on your face on this cold morning. Mitsuki was walking right beside you as always. That is, until he stopped and then you eventually did too, gazing at him questioningly.

“I’ll be going now”, he informed you. You frowned.

“You’re not coming home with me?”

“No. I have some unfinished business so I’ll probably won’t come over tonight either.”

“Oh. Alright”, you mumbled. It’s not the first time Mitsuki goes on some super secret mission, but not keeping him company always left a bad taste on your tongue. “Sure you don’t want me around?”

“I always want you around. But I need to do my work alone”, he concluded apologetically and put his hand on your forearm in a comforting manner. “Nothing too serious. You go get some rest, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Be careful out there.”

He smiled softly and simply disappeared before you could even blink.

You didn’t like the idea of Mitsuki going on seperate missions on Hokage’s call. Sure, he was strong, the best match to solve any cases regarding the Sound Village, especially considering that the reports from there weren’t so great lately - but he was also your teammate and well, a normal teenager. However, you trusted him enough to know that when he says it’s nothing too serious then it’s not.

Wait. But… today’s sunday. And you just came back from a team mission. There shouldn’t be any- Now that you think about it, Mitsuki never said that it’s a mission. Unfinished business. What on Earth might be his unfinished business? Is it… the crush thing?

All this frowning is gonna give you wrinkles. You slowly backed out from the place he left you standing and staring for about a minute and walked out the school area, joining the rest of the people.

You could see Sarada slowly walking in the distance. It was a perfect moment to get her in for a talk since your thoughts really started to bother you lately. You speeded up a little to catch up with her just to grab her by the elbow. She looked at you in consternation. You discreetly tilted your head to the left so she knew you wanted a face-to-face kind of treatment. The forest seemed private enough. Sarada didn’t protest much and just walked after you leading the way. You stopped when you reached the other side of the path, the one that no one usually took to go home.

“You think we’re alone?”, you asked, lowering your voice.

“I don’t see anyone right now”, she looked around the place. “What’s happening?”

“See, it’s about… Mitsuki” you said and she gave you her the-most-serious look, “I think he might have a crush on someone”

She opened her mouth but didn’t say anything and just stared at you with big eyes. The news were indeed outrageous so you did feel her pain.

“A...Are you kidding me?!”, she finally managed to blur out.

“I know, right? It’s-”

“Not the crush thing, you idiot!”, she screamed at you, “You made it so top-secret I thought you were in danger and someone was following you!”

“Well, I’m in no danger so calm down”, you said but it didn’t really convince her.

She closed her eyes and quietly counted backwards from ten to one. You didn’t know why she found mathematics currently necessary at this certain moment, but you were cool with whatever helped her clear her mind after the shocking information.

“So what is it?”, she finally snapped.

“No need to be so angry”, you mumbled, but she gave you the most murderous looks ever so you decided to move on before she could activate her sharingan and trap you in some cruel, fake reality filled up with minions. “Yeah, so... There is someone”

“What makes you think that?” she asked, not really happy about being dragged into this kind of conversation right now when she could go nap and chill in peace. “The fact that he asked me what a crush means?”

“Not only that, but he’s also been acting… odd. Not odd in a Mitsuki way but like odd-odd.”

Sarada made her ‘hmmmm’ noise.

“Then go and ask him. You’re his best friend, remember?”

“Yeah, see, like, I’m not saying he wouldn't tell me. All I’m saying is that… I don’t think he will answer. Like-”

“You don’t think he might be completely aware of how to approach the whole love thing?”

“Yeah. Exactly” you nodded. “Can you read my mind or what?”

“Already told you that a thousand times now”, she shrugged with a smirk. “But you have a point. I don’t think Mitsuki might be aware of it either. I don’t think he ever… had a closer look on the aspect of romantic love. But then again, he never really showed interest before. And again, It’s not like his love-life is my must know.”

“Mine neither, but like-”

“You want to know so you can help him out just in case?”

“Geez, why do I even bother to put words together?”

Sarada snickered, clearly proud of herself, but you were not in the mood for that. You shook her by her shoulder a little with a sad expression.

“I want to help him out”, you babbled getting a little bit too involved in this. “Like… what if he tries to confess?”

“Why are you so nervous?”, she asked a bit amused by all this. You dramatically hang onto her arm.

“I don’t know! I just am with this kind of topics!”

It was true. You seemed to have the same reaction to this ever since… always. You quickly got way too involved with the whole conception of love and it was why you didn’t like romantic movies in the first place. You were easily embarrassed by any kind of affection; you felt way too nervous because of it and felt like blushing and hiding away whenever it was even mentioned. Aunt Sakura once made a remark about how your shyness in that matter reminded her of your mother. That means genes were the only possible explanation.

“Trust me, honeybee, if he really listened to what I said he’d have no problem with that.”

You almost jumped as Chocho literally walked out of the bushes with a bag of potato chips under her arm. You were so caught up with this whole crush thing that you didn’t even hear her coming your way. Sarada put her long, black strand of hair behind her ear and adjusted her glasses and bag just to sigh loudly at you two.

“How-”, you stuttered, “Why… why are you here?”

“I was gonna walk home with Sarada but then you almost ripped her arm off and ran away to the forest so I figured I’ll follow”, she said, now munching on chips on full volume.

Great. Fantastic.

“Well, if he really listened to Chocho then we’ll just have to watch out for him behaving the way she told him to in front of people that can be his possible crushes”, said Sarada and in the exact same moment you could hear more stomping on the rustling leaves. More people coming. And this time they didn’t even try sneaking. They just casually walked through the woods.

“Why are you all here, morons?”, Shikada’s voice broke the awaiting silence, as he pushed away a larger branch. “Can’t you just go home and sleep before you pass out?”

“Why are YOU here?”, you asked the real question instead now glaring at both Shikadai and Inojin standing in front of you, “I was supposed to have a private conversation!”

“I saw Chocho coming after you so I figured I’ll see if you’re up to something stupid to eventually stop you”, Shikadai explained.

You now looked at Inojin, “And you?”

“I came along to watch him try to eventually stop you from doing something stupid.”

This isn’t really the direction in which you imagined this whole thing would go. You groaned knowing that now there’s no way of getting rid of all the unnecessary attention. It would be better to just go home at this point especially because in the corner of your eye you noticed Sumire coming your way as if the group you already had here wasn’t enough. The girl greeted you clearly a bit confused as to why you all would be here in the first place.

“Sumire!” Chocho exclaimed, “Don’t know why you’re here, but welcome to the meeting of solving the mystery of Mitsuki’s secret crush love!”

You mentally snapped feeling the blood rush through your veins. Sarada got triggered too.

“Tone down, will you?!”, you scoffed, but it was already too late.

“Mitsuki has a crush?”, Inojin widened his eyes.

“Shut up!”

God, by the time you’re done, the whole Leaf Village will be spreading the rumour. Sumire managed to form a weak smile. She probably was too tired herself to even want to dig into such an important class discussion.

“That’s the shortcut I take to go home”, Sumire explained. “And that’s some wonderful news you’ve got here. Good for Mitsuki, right?”

It wasn’t really good news. Not until you knew who it was. Sumire declared to talk to you later since she was about to doze off any second now. Hopefully she won’t remember this conversation the next morning. You wouldn’t want the whole class to know about it.

“Okay, so... “ Sarada sighed again, “Where were we?”

“LOVE INVESTIGATION!”, Chocho made another high-pitched sound and you were about to throw yourself at her if it wasn’t for Sarada who covered the noisy mouth of her friend with her palm. They exchanged annoyed looks until the girl let go.

“But there’s like… five of us!”, she insisted. “So we would be like Scooby Doo. I’m Daphne, obviously. Oh, Sarada you’re such a fit for Velma! Even the glasses!

Sarada hid her face in her hands.

“I call Fred”, Inojin shrugged. “He’s kinda hot”

“Please, so it makes me Shaggy?” complained Shikadai.

“And that makes Boruto the dog.”

You were about to protest, even though being Scooby wasn’t really that much humiliating, but Sarada already made the Jurassic Park pose to prevent you from opening your mouths before someone would push the details any further.

“Stop, stop, stop” Sarada spoke up and both Chocho and Inojin grimaced. “We can’t just go and make an investigation out of it”

As much as you would like to find out who the crush was, Sarada was right. There were already too many people involved and making a fuss out of it behind Mitsuki’s back was just not fair.

“I’m going to confront him and then maybe if he’s fine with it I can tell you who his crush is so we can help him out just in case”, you declared. They weren’t necessarily happy with your promise, but in the end they agreed.

“Excellent”, Shikadai summarised the whole meeting, “Can you all go home now?”

You could and you did. Although on the way home you acted a little bit paranoid about Mitsuki accidentally hearing your previous conversation but not enough to actually faint on the pavement as your head kept getting dizzier any next second.

After a way-too-tiring walk you finally reached your house and got greeted by both your mom and sister who was still in her pastel yellow pajama dress, consuming the breakfast. You told them you did well on the mission. Rubbing your eyes you accepted the rice cakes your mom insisted you eat before you go to sleep. Right, sleep. Your priority.

“Boruto, about my trip…”

Oh, right. The second priority. Your mom was going on a trip with her friends for whole twelve days. She still seemed sceptical about leaving you with Himawari alone. Of course there was dad too, but let’s be honest, he wasn’t home too often. You were sure it was going to be an easy task though; it’s not like you didn’t stay with Himawari before. Maybe just not for almost two weeks. You got along with your sister pretty well and besides, she was really responsible for her young age. You could cook dinner together without burning the house down.

But she was still a kid. A kid who just recently joined the primary school, an academy for the youngest ninjas.

“I talked with aunt Sakura and she will check on you once in a while”, your mother informed you and you nodded, your eyelids suddenly being way too heavy. “Will you manage to walk her to school tomorrow morning?”

You grimaced. “I thought I was supposed to walk her to school everyday?”

“Yes, but I know that you just came back from a mission and you’re probably tired. I don’t want you to oversleep. Maybe I can still schedule it for another day or at least-”

“I’ll be okay”, the frown left your face and you just waved a hand at that. If you go to sleep now you’re gonna wake up around… the evening hours perhaps? It’s not like you could nap for an entire day. So it wasn’t really that much of a deal. And your mom needed to rest more than you did, after all the mothering she does.

She still had the concern written all over her face as she asked, “Are you sure? I’m leaving at 3 am so I won’t be able to wake you up just in case.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

By this hour you’re probably gonna be full dressed and ready to go anyway. You yawned and decided to take a quick shower before you went to your room and collapsed on the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! sorry it took so long!! i honestly didn’t expect anyone to actually like this?? djfnjsdkf i’m surprised but also hella thankful for all the comments and nice words! i’m glad you’re enjoying it so far. also this is no beta and this chapter contains family fluff so you have been warned

You woke up to the sound of birds and the smell of simmered rice.

You never actually felt so well-rested in a long time. No muscle pull and no headache. You stretched your arms and blinked slowly. The sun lazily tried to make its way into your room through the curtains. God, how you missed this kind of mornings. You rolled onto your belly and pushed your cheek onto the pillow, checking the alarm clock on your nightshelf with one eye open. And that’s when the horror begins.

You slept all day and were supposed to walk Himawari to school in less than exactly 3 minutes.

You got up, making a mess out of your bed and looking like one too, but you didn’t care at the moment. Why didn’t Himawari wake you up?!

Well, she was probably sleeping too. You groaned at yourself and ran straight to her room.

“Himawari, wake u-!”, you shouted but there was no Himawari. Nowhere. She wasn’t in her bed and not in the bathroom either but you heard a noise coming from the floor below.

You sprinted down the stairs so fast you don’t even remember your feet touching the ground. You just jumped into the living room in a rush and saw Himawari waving her legs as she was sitting in a chair and packing some fruits into her backpack. Fully dressed, may you mention.

“Good morning, brother!”, she grinned at you.

You blinked, looking around and found Mitsuki leaning on a table as he also smiled at you. You kept blinking, but managed to calm down. You realized that you were holding your breath in the whole time.

“How did you…?”, you stuttered and stumbled also.

“I thought you’d be up by now”, Mitsuki explained. “Got worried”

“Me and Mitsuki made breakfast!”

“Yeah, that’s great!” you said, looking around, trying to think of what to do first. “Okay! I’ll just… put on some clothes and we’re going out”

You took one last glance at Mitsuki who was looking intact. It didn’t tell you much about what he was up to until now. He could fight the most dangerous shinobis and still be fine so you won’t know if he actually went on a mission or on a secret date unless you ask. You could easily read emotions and put two and two together but Mitsuki equaled so much more than just a simple four. Whatever that means.

You went back to your room and put on your jacket and a headband. Oh, yeah, and pants. Pants too. You went downstairs some seconds later.

“I’m all ready, captain!”, Himawari was still bouncing around, excited about school. You wish you could relate. But there was no school at least for the day.

You left home along with Mitsuki and your sister. It was a quiet, bright day with birds singing in the background and green leaves randomly swirling in the air. You were outside the gate when Himawari remembered that she forgot a drawing of a project she was supposed to bring for the lesson today. Mitsuki volunteered to quickly get it back and turned around. Meanwhile you leaned down to your sisters height so she could hear your whisper.

“Himawari, on the other note, you know you shouldn’t open your window to strangers, right?”, you told her, warningly, “We talked about it”

She looked up at you, a little confused. “It was about the doors”, she specified, “And Mitsuki’s not a stranger. Besides, I'm careful and not so little anymore. We’re using the secret morse code, you know the one”, she whispered back, but you still remained sceptical about it.

It’s not like you were overprotective, but… Protective maybe? And surely responsible for her safety now more than usually. Since the Mitsuki accident you became more mature which both meant that you felt the need to become the stronger shinobi in order to protect what’s yours and respect the things you had. You still remained a little bit bratty, but let’s not focus on that now.

Mitsuki re-joined your party soon enough.

“Can we do the cloud jumping?”, Himawari then asked, for a quick change of topic and pulled out the puppy face just in case. You smiled and nodded anyway. The girl seemed even more cheerful today than usual which warmed up your heart. You loved her so much and to see how happy she is made you feel some kind of a relief.

The sunflower, you thought. She really is one.

The so called cloud jumping was a family activity you remember having as a child. Your parents would go out for a walk with you, take you by the hand and pull you up, so you could pretend you’re jumping ultra high. It was nothing special but at the same time it was so much fun for a brat who hasn’t polished up the ninja jumping skills yet. Due to your dad becoming hokage and having less and less time, you didn’t go out on walks anymore. Since you were older, it meant that you were able to enjoy those moments a little longer than your sister did so it almost felt like a responsibility of yours to still guarantee her a good time.

It’s what she deserves.

You crossed your fingers, ready to kage bunshin some clones out of yourself but Himawari tugged on your sleeve. You glanced at her. She was already holding Mitsuki’s hand in hers and it took you a whole good three seconds to get it and then you grinned again.

“You’re right”

You didn’t need to copy your own self when you already had the second person around. You took your sister by the right hand and Mitsuki raised his almost invisible eyebrow at you from the other side, holding the girls left hand.

“What are we doing?”, he asked curiously.

“Fun activities. We pull her up on three and she jumps. Ready?”

Mitsuki nodded and you swinged your sister into the air on three.  
Well, not really. You were still holding her hand just in case. You pulled her up so she was a little above your height and she pushed off the ground immediately once she landed back. Her laugh filled the morning air. Mitsuki was apparently really enjoying this too.

It took maybe a little longer than you expected, but you still somehow managed to fit in time. You put her down when you could already see the school gate. There were some children playing on the front field, screaming and throwing rubber shurikens at each other. Meanwhile, Himawari tried to get used to stomping on planet Earth again.

“Jumping is so much fun!”, she said after a second and smiled brightly, “I wanna ninja jump like you already!”

“I’m sure you’re gonna jump even higher. You had a lot of practice after all”, you said, squeezing her hand one last time before letting go. “Okay, so… What does mom tell you before you go? Be good at school?”

Himawari nodded.

“Be good at school. Play safe”

“Study well”, added Mitsuki.

“Show them who’s the best”, you encouraged.

“Don’t forget to stay hydrated”

“And eat!”

“Absolutely destroy them only if you have to” said Mitsuki and you automatically glared at him as he shot you an apologetic smile. “But gently”, he added.

The girl just giggled as if it was funny at all and walked away, waving at you all the way to school. Your job here was done. Himawari joined the group of her classmates and at the very same time you could hear your stomach growling of disapproval at the lack of attention it was getting. You felt outraged by this kind of betrayal. Mitsuki smiled at you softly.

“I think we should get breakfast now”

“We should”, you agreed wholeheartedly. “Did you get some rest?”

“I did. Did you?”

“You know”, you said, ignoring his previous question “if I never saw you sleeping with my own two eyes, I’d say you never sleep”

Mitsuki chuckled, not really settling for an explanation here. You made your way home, chatting and then bursting into kitchen once you reached the area. You grabbed a lonely toast with egg laying on the table. It was cold, but every food is eatable if you try. Then you glanced at your friend.

You swallowed hard but discreetly. Okay, you can do this. It was time for you to finally ask the question like it was no big deal. It’s not a S rank mission after all. Maybe more of an A one. You turned your back to him and nonchalantly pretended to look for some chopsticks laying around in the top kitchen shelf.

“So you took interest in Chocho’s crush guide lines yesterday?”, you tried to approach the matter in a way that it wouldn’t sound too suspicious and wouldn’t make you both feel uncomfortable.

“Yes. She seems very confident in that matter”

It sounded like a casual chat. Good.

“Is there... someone particular on your mind?”, you looked at him from behind a shoulder and winked. You felt your hands getting sweaty.

Mitsuki is taken aback by that question. Which is also good. It means he didn’t know you noticed. You wait patiently as you reach over for a glass salt shaker and your friend is contemplating the answer a little bit too long.

“Yes”, he finally manages to say and gives you a little smile, “I think you can say there is”

And then you drop the saltshaker. Mitsuki catches it though before it can shatter on the floor. You’re not sure what kind of answer you expected, but whatever it was now, you don’t think you were actually prepared for it.

“Oh gosh” you manage to say, ”Who is it?”

Mitsuki placed the saltshaker where it belongs and tilted his head apologetically. 

“Not telling?” you mumbled. Okay, you did consider that option. Mitsuki had some kind of a really blant expression so it was hard to tell how he really felt about it.

“But we’re best friends?”, you tried again, “At least tell me if I know this person?”

“Mm…”, he made a sound, eyes slowly blinking, settling on “You might know them”

“I… might?” you echoed, but decided to not dig it any further, “Gee, okay, fine. Don’t tell me if you don’t want to. But if you need advice… I’m way better than Chocho, you know? I’m experienced in being your friend and that alone makes me a better trustee”

Mitsuki looked at you playfully while he hummed, “You’re right, Boruto. I’ll keep that in mind”

This is bad.

You emphasised on your friendship at least three times during this conversation and Mitsuki still refused to surrender. You did respect that he wanted to keep things private; whether he tells you or not, it’s his will. Still, you couldn’t help but pout. You took a seat and swinged a little on the kitchen chair, probably looking like a grumpy child, that tries its hardest to swallow his pride after the parents rejected an offer to stop at McDonalds on a family trip.

Now this one seemed to work, because Mitsuki softened his eyes even more than usually when he’s around you and gently brushed his fingers along your wrist. It was a very subtle gesture, like most of them. Your friend was practicing it for some time now - you actually don’t know when he started doing it, maybe a year ago - so you didn’t actually pay more attention to it. You’re not sure if you could even call it a touch, it was more like a ghost of affirmation used whenever he felt like your brows knitting. For every and any reason.

It meant a lot of things; from it’s okay, don’t worry to I’m sorry and thank you or even a simple ‘stay’. Depending on the day.

Mitsuki then speaks up, “If I ever confess, you’ll be the first to know I did”

And that’s good.

“I sure hope so”

You took the toast and bit right into it, grasping the orange juice with your free hand. You realized that Mitsuki’s been staring at you (again). But it was different than usual. You felt his eyes going all the way from your eyes to your chin and back. His mouth was slightly hung open as if he couldn’t believe something. Or someone. Maybe he’s changed his mind and actually IS going to tell you about the crush?

But before you bring out another hot take, Mitsuki just shakes his head. You started making several plans for this afternoon you could spend together as always, until Sarada cockblocks the fun with her “you’re gonna train with me because I wanna pass the exam” grade A student issues.

***

It’s been three days.

The Investigation Team was only a bit disappointed by the fact that you didn’t manage to find out who the mysterious crush is, but Chocho said it’s only gonna make things more exciting.

Mitsuki sticked around for a few hours after school since then, but he never really stayed for the night. He said he has things to do and usually brushed them off with the sound village conflict again, which was starting to disturb you a little.

You ended up babysitting your sister alone. You picked her up from school, made dinner together and helped her with her homework, played some video games, other brotherly stuff. Your dad managed to get home around midnight sometimes so you didn’t really stay alone all the time.

And on the fourth day, your usual group of friends agreed on a common meeting at some fast food restaurant after school. You didn’t really know if you could since you needed to take care of Himawari but aunt Sakura already said she could take care of her from time to time so it seemed like it might be the time.

And so it was a preview of a nice time to spend with your friends. Until you told Mitsuki about your plans with a question mark at the end so he can know that he’s invited and he’s in fact coming along so you all can have some fun.

“I’m sorry. I can’t go.”

What?

“...What?”

To be honest you didn’t even consider Mitsuki not coming with you. Sure, his secret missions involving Sound Village could pop up from time to time but he was usually either informed about them way sooner or dealt with that in a matter of a few seconds.

“Why?”, you furrowed your brows. “Is there a problem again?”

“No. I just already asked Namida if she can meet me after school”

“Who”, you blurred out. You know that it was the girl in your class, but it still just seemed so random for Mitsuki to start hanging out with her now.

He opened his mouth to start explaining her existence to you.

“I mean, why?”, you quickly changed the question, shaking your head.

Why would he want to hang out with her? Well, the answer could be obvious but it was too hard for you to process the thought of him actually having a crush on Namida? It just didn’t feel like him at all. For a tiny second Mitsuki looked like he was hesitating with the answer until he went for 'we have some things we want to discuss together' kind of explanation.

“Well... alright”, you said, half shrugging, “I’m not stopping you then. Enjoy whatever”

You were going for a snarky ‘enjoy your date’ type of answer but something literally held down your throat on the inside.

It’s not like it’s your business.

“Thank you, Boruto. Enjoy the time with the rest too”

And Mitsuki says that like he’s gonna walk away, jump and disappear like he always does, but instead he just takes one step ahead. And so do you but he never really turns his head away from you or even breaks the eye contact. It looked like you both just attempted to go away but failed miserably and ended up staring at each other as if there was something unspoken hanging in the air.

“I-”, you mumbled just to say something, holding your gaze and meeting Mitsuki’s eyes for a longer moment. And once you did it, you felt yourself feeling so completely out of place, forgetting that you’re staring at a person and for a tiny second the whole universe just contained Mitsuki and nothing else. You felt yourself being surrealistically lost and unable to finish what you wanted to say while your friend was waiting patiently for the answer.

And waited.

“You- Do you wanna come over later?”, you blurred out to fill the silence. “ I have some new games I wanna try out”

What a complete utter lie. What kind of dumbass response is that? Why would you even say something like that? Mitsuki comes over almost every goddamn day so what's the-

“Of course”

“Cool”

Cool. You’re gonna go home running and downloading some games on a console, hoping there is any left that you didn’t complete with Mitsuki by your side otherwise you’re doomed. Cool.

But your friend has this expression on his face like he’s almost pleased that you asked. Or that you said something. Why - you have no idea. It’s Mitsuki so you don’t think he needs a reason. You just hope you don’t look as nervous and terrified as you suddenly are. You give him a stern nod and then turn away to finally walk away. Mitsuki does the same and when you glance over your shoulder, he’s gone.

God. What was that? The question rings in your ears and you don’t stop asking this yourself until you’re down the street meeting with all of your friends, ready to grab some food.

“Where’s Mitsuki?”, Sarada asks, expecting Mitsuki to show up with you as always.

You told them what he told you. That he couldn’t go. That he said he’s got things to do.

You left out the thing with Namida, ironically. You were supposed to be consulting every information with them since you’re having this whole crush investigation going on. But you couldn’t bring yourself to say it, because then you’re gonna have to hear the girls name again and again and someone might even squeak at the thought of them possibly dating and that would be just so uncomfortable and annoying.

Where are those thoughts coming from? Since when do you care?

“We should try to spy on him”, Chocho insisted. You almost didn’t hear her, still not over the everything or maybe the whole nothing that you just witnessed.

“This is literally out of the question” Shikadai was quick to turn her down, “It’s Mitsuki, he’ll know that we’re stalking him”

“Not if we stalk him well enough!”

“No”, Shikadai still refused with an unamused glance. “C’mon. We’re curious, not desperate”

Sarada nodded in approval of these wise words, probably glad that she’s not the only one using something more than irresponsibility as a way of making decisions.

You made it to the fast food restaurant. You ordered your meals of choice and picked a seat once you were done with the order. Chocho sat down by the window and proudly took out some rolled paper out of her shirt. Wait, not the paper. It was her own napkin. There were plenty of them so you didn’t quite get why you would carry around your own until she opened it and placed it on the table in front of her. You watched in, carefully picking up the hamburger. There were scribbles all over it.

“Okay, here I made a list”, she declared “Of all the people we know. Or that we know that Mitsuki knows. We can cross off all the folks we know for sure he’s not interested in so we can focus on who’s left”

“That’s actually a brilliant idea”, Sarada smiled in her direction.

Chocho giggled cheerfully at that praise and then sticked her tongue out, “Name one time I didn’t have one!”

Inojin was about to open his mouth.

“So for the start you can cross off all our names. I think we would have noticed by now if it was any of us”, Sarada said faster than the light so she could interrupt the fight that was hanging amongst the fat oil of a fast food diner before it even took place.

You were pretty sure that if she wanted to she could also name a few times when Chocho’s ideas weren’t the best ones, but still, most of the time the girl had her own way with dealing with problems which often were more effective than anyone could ever expect.

“Well, gotta leave me on the list just in case” Chocho hummed and passed the napkin to Inojin so he could cross it out with the brush he carried around. “Maybe he just couldn’t resist my charm anymore. Happens to all of us”

“No, it does not”, Inojin cut in and Chocho shot him a glare. He didn’t bother glaring back this time and looked at the rest of the group, his free hand halfway there in Shikadais fries. "Should we leave Boruto on the list too?"

"What?”, your eyebrows went down and then up in surprise, “Why would you keep me on the list?"

Shikadai looked at you with a sour expression. “I mean…”,

He trailed off and looked around hoping someone might help him find words for it but no one volunteered. You frowned more and he just sighed, “They call you lovebirds for some reason?"

"Um, yeah?”, you answered, still confused. “That's a super bros title"

“For the sake of Mitsuki, I hope it’s not you” Inojin mused and you found yourself a bit triggered.

“Wait, what?”

“Maybe it’s Namida?”, Chocho mumbled, tapping on her chin in reverie, ignoring all of you.

All eyes went back to her. You automatically felt like smothering your eyes with ketchup. You didn’t mention Namida to anyone and yet it went full circle anyway.

“I mean, it’s pretty obvious if you ask me”, she continued. “I saw Mitsuki asking her to meet after class. He also paid attention to my love tips exactly at the time I was giving them to her? There were a few love incidents in our class history and he didn’t really seem interested back then. It's hard to tell. He gives off this secret admirer vibe, you know?”

“Definitely”, Inojin agreed. “He’s also really mysterious so I think whoever it is, Mitsuki has a really big chance of his feelings being returned”

“Yes! Girls LOVE mysterious types! Wow, the more I think about it the more I’m surprised no one ever really tried to ask him out before. Or maybe they did and we didn’t know! Do you think he’s more of a chocolate or flowers type?

“Oh, flowers for sure-”

And so they continued on their chit chat, miraculously getting along in this particular topic. You felt your stomach curl. You didn’t really feel like eating anymore. Their shared theories became a background for your spacing out moment, frozen with the hamburger in your hand.

“Boruto, are you okay?”, Sarada finally asks, her voice soft so the others wouldn’t pay much attention. Shikadai glanced your way though.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thinking about who it might be, you know?” you said. Not far from the truth but at the same time completely far from it. You got up. You decided that it’s time to pull yourself together. “Okay guys, nature’s call. Gotta visit the toilet”

“I’ll go too”, Sarada declared. “I have to wash my hands.”

You looked at her but didn’t say anything. You both stood up and made your way to the end of the fast food restaurant, turning left behind a wall where there was a storage room and two separate bathrooms. You stopped right in front of them just to stare back at Sarada, who was currently frowning at you, as if expecting some sort of an explanation.

“So what’s going on?”, she finally asked after all you were giving her was a helpless glare.

You sighed, shifting uncomfortably.

“I just feel like it happened again”, you find yourself saying and Sarada’s glasses shine bright in a ‘care to elaborate?’ kind of way.

“Something slept through my fingers if it comes to Mitsuki. Again”, you confessed, feeling your fists clench, “It’s always like that with him. Or maybe it’s always like that with me. Maybe I am the one who’s just too busy sleeping on the obvious. It’s me.”

Sarada seemed taken aback by your statement, although not necessarily surprised. Concerned maybe was the word. She put her hand on her waist and looked at you in all her seriousness, letting you continue.

“Am I failing?”, your voice grew smaller. “As a friend? For not noticing it earlier?”, you asked and this time that alone made her eyes widen.

“What? No! At least… I don’t think so. I didn’t realize anything either”, she said with a tiny bit of guilt to that sentence “And I’m usually the one noticing things. I’m sure he’s not like… mad at us. I think that we're making too much of a deal if it comes to this. After all, like Chocho said, It's just a crush. Right?"

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for any grammar mistakes etc, its my first time publishing a ff in english. i hope you enjoyed it!


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